U.M. (Windows)

10-2 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Understanding the terminology
Before you begin, you need to understand the following terms for
lookups and relational databases. These terms are illustrated in the
sections that follow.
Choose FileMaker Help Index from the Help menu, and then type:
E relationships, understanding
This term Means
Master file For lookups, the file that contains the copied data. It’s the file the
lookup originates from and the file the data is copied to.
For relational databases, the file that accesses and displays data
from another file.
Related file For lookups, the file that contains the data to copy. It’s the file the
lookup goes to and the file the data is copied from.
For relational databases, the file that contains the data you want to
access and work with in the master file.
A related file and the master file can be the same file.
Match fields A field in the master file and a field in the related file that contain
values you want to use to find matching records. (A match field is
sometimes called a key field.)
For lookups, the values in the match fields don’t have to be equal
to each other. For example, you can set an option to copy the next
lower value when the match fields aren’t equal.
For relational databases, the values in the match fields must be
equal to each other.
Lookup source field
(for lookups only)
A field in the related file that contains the data you want to copy.
It’s the field the data is copied from.
A lookup copies data from another file into
the current file, in a field that belongs to the
current file
In a relational database, data from another file is
displayed in the current file, in a field that belongs
only to the other file
Client ID
Route
R20
Oak-Bos
Client ID
Route
R20
Oak-Bos
Client ID
Route
R42
Oak-Lon
Client ID
Route
R42
Oak-Lon
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